7-1
Design of Work Systems
Operations Management
William J. Stevenson
8th edition
7-2
Design of Work Systems
CHAPTER
7
Design of
Work Systems
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Operations Management, Eighth Edition, by William J. Stevenson
Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
7-3
Design of Work Systems

Job Design
Job design involves specifying the content
and methods of job

What will be done
 Who will do the job
 How the job will bob will be done
 Where the job will be done
 Ergonomics
7-4
Design of Work Systems
Design of Work Systems

Specialization

Behavioral Approaches to Job Design

Teams

Methods Analysis

Motions Study

Working conditions
7-5
Design of Work Systems
Job Design Success
Successful Job Design must be:

Carried out by experienced personnel with
the necessary training and background
 Consistent with the goals of the
organization
 In written form
 Understood and agreed to by both
management and employees
7-6
Design of Work Systems
Specialization in Business: Advantages
Table 7.1
For Management:
For Labor:
1. Simplifies training 1. Low education and
2. High productivity
3. Low wage costs
skill requirements
2. Minimum
responsibilities
3. Little mental effort
needed
7-7
Design of Work Systems
Disadvantages
Table 7.1
ForManagement:
ForLabor:
1. Difficult to motivate
quality
1. Monotonous work
2. Limited opportunities
for advancement
2. Worker dissatisfaction,
possibly resulting in
3. Little control over work
absenteeism, high
4. Little opportunity for
turnover, disruptive
self-fulfillment
tactics, poor attention
to quality
7-8
Design of Work Systems
Behavioral Approaches to Job Design

Job Enlargement


Job Rotation


Giving a worker a larger portion of the total
task by horizontal loading
Workers periodically exchange jobs
Job Enrichment

Increasing responsibility for planning and
coordination tasks, by vertical loading
7-9
Design of Work Systems
Motivation and Trust

Motivation

Influences quality and productivity
 Contributes to work environment

Trust

Influences productivity and employeemanagement relations
7-10
Design of Work Systems

Teams
Benefits of teams

Higher quality
 Higher productivity
 Greater worker satisfaction

Self-directed teams

Groups of empowered to make certain
changes in their work process
7-11
Design of Work Systems
Methods Analysis

Methods analysis

Analyzing how a job gets done
 Begins with overall analysis
 Moves to specific details
7-12
Design of Work Systems
Methods Analysis
The need for methods analysis can come
from a number of different sources:

Changes in tools and equipment

Changes in product design
or new products

Changes in materials or procedures

Other factors (e.g. accidents, quality
problems)
7-13
Design of Work Systems
Methods Analysis Procedure
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Identify the operation to be studied
Get employee input
Study and document current method
Analyze the job
Propose new methods
Install new methods
Follow-up to ensure improvements
have been achieved
7-14
Design of Work Systems
Analyzing the Job

Flow process chart


Chart used to examine the overall sequence
of an operation by focusing on movements
of the operator or flow of materials
Worker-machine chart

Chart used to determine portions of a work
cycle during which an operator and
equipment are busy or idle
7-15
Design of Work Systems
Figure 7-2
FLOW PROCESS CHART
ANALYST PAGE
Job Requisition of petty cash D. Kolb 1 of 2
Details of Method
Requisition made by department head
Put in “pick-up” basket
To accounting department
Account and signature verified
Amount approved by treasurer
Amount counted by cashier
Amount recorded by bookkeeper
Petty cash sealed in envelope
Petty cash carried to department
Petty cash checked against requisition
Receipt signed
Petty cash stored in safety box
7-16
Design of Work Systems
Motion Study
Motion study is the systematic
study of the human motions used
to perform an operation.
7-17
Design of Work Systems
Motion Study Techniques

Motion study principles - guidelines for
designing motion-efficient work procedures

Analysis of therbligs - basic elemental
motions into which a job can be broken
down

Micromotion study - use of motion pictures
and slow motion to study motions that
otherwise would be too rapid to analyze

Charts
7-18
Design of Work Systems
Developing Work Methods
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Eliminate unnecessary motions
Combine activities
Reduce fatigue
Improve the arrangement of the workplace
Improve the design of tools and equipment
7-19
Design of Work Systems
Working Conditions
Temperature &
Humidity
Illumination
Ventilation
Color
7-20
Design of Work Systems
Working Conditions (cont’d)
Noise & Vibration
Work Breaks
Safety
Causes of Accidents
7-21
Design of Work Systems
Work Measurement

Standard time

Stopwatch time study

Historical times

Predetermined data

Work Sampling
7-22
Design of Work Systems

Time-based system


Compensation
Compensation based on time an employee
has worked during a pay period
Output-based (incentive) system

Compensation based on the amount of
output an employee produces during a pay
period
7-23
Design of Work Systems
Form of Incentive Plan

Accurate

Easy to apply

Consistent

Easy to understand

Fair
7-24
Design of Work Systems
Compensation

Individual Incentive Plans

Group Incentive Plans

Knowledge-Based Pay System

Management Compensation
7-25
Design of Work Systems
Gortrac Manufacturing
GTE5
Process improvement/examples/ teams
7-26
Design of Work Systems
Gortrac Manufacturing
GTE2
Teams/improvement